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A suspected stalker who asserted to be Madeleine McCann was eliminated after a covert DNA test definitively confirmed she was not the long-lost child, police have revealed in court.

Stalking Allegations Against McCann Family

Julia Wandelt, aged 24, faces charges for a stalking campaign against the relatives of Madeleine, who went missing from Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007 when she was three.

The woman from Poland bombarded Kate and Gerry McCann and their adult children, Sean and Amelie, with numerous phone calls, messages, voicemails and letters from 2022 until recently, and turned up at their home insisting on a DNA test, Leicester crown court previously heard.

Official Statements

Giving evidence on Tuesday, the chief investigator on Operation Grange, said he had gone against procedure to test Wandelt “with the aim she may stop her actions towards the McCann family”.

DCI Mark Cramwell said over a dozen persons had previously claimed to be the abducted child but that: “We would not take DNA without strong belief that person was Madeleine because I aimed to prevent setting a precedent.

“If it got out in the media I had taken DNA from a person probably not to be Madeleine, I was worried I would have had a lot of people coming forward saying ‘I’m Madeleine’.

“I truly possess major concerns about approaching the family to say I intend to take DNA from an individual – that could have raised their hopes. It could have been highly distressing and challenging for the family.”

DNA Comparison

He said the police had previously assessed Wandelt not to be Madeleine on account of no physical similarity and that she was not the same age than Madeleine. But, he said, after learning Leicester police were going to take into custody Wandelt on stalking charges, he “determined that the DNA would be taken upon arrest”.

He said: “A comparison took place. It absolutely confirmed that Julia Wandelt is definitely not Madeleine McCann.”

Legal Testimony

The court heard that in April this year, the officer visited Wandelt while detained and stated to her that her DNA had been compared to Madeleine’s and that the samples did not match. The jury heard he told Wandelt at that meeting: “You are not Madeleine McCann.”

Evidence showed that while they spoke, Wandelt asked: “Do you truly desire to find Madeleine?”, and the officer told the jury he responded: “Yes.”

He said despite the test, he believed Wandelt “might claim we have interfered with the sample”, remarking: “There existed a chance she would not believe she isn't Madeleine even when provided with scientific proof.”

Family Impact

In prior court sessions, the court heard how the McCanns were left scared and upset by their “unnerving” and “deeply disturbing” interactions with Wandelt and her co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, from Cardiff, as the pair attempted to insist on a DNA test.

The jury were told how the defendants made progressively odd plans” to acquire Kate McCann’s DNA, which included going through the McCanns’ bins and taking forks from restaurants that they had eaten in.

The accused women both refute one count of stalking. Proceedings are ongoing.